Chapter 51: Tavern and Explanation
Near the door, the drunk who had been dazed immediately sobered up, as a chill quickly crept through his brain, and panic overtook his consciousness, draining the blood from his face.
Gauss reached out and grabbed the man’s wrist, refusing to let go.
He didn’t feel much disgust toward this drunkard—after all, he was completely inebriated; what could one expect from him?
He held on because the man had completely lost strength under his feet, his legs trembling like soft noodles.
If Gauss let go, the man would collapse to the ground.
“Please stand properly; I’m letting go now.”
Gauss said calmly.
“Yes!” the drunk replied.
The drunk trembled violently as Gauss’s jade-green gaze swept over him, as if electricity surged through his body.
Gauss released his hand and looked at the drunk trembling like a chick; inwardly, he couldn’t help but shake his head.
Was he really that terrifying?
He had thought his face looked rather delicate when he washed it earlier.
The tavern was completely silent.
But the Night Owl team had no mind to pay attention to the odd silence—they were exhausted after a full day’s work, and had narrowly escaped from a ghoul a moment ago.
Although no fight had occurred, it had still drenched them in cold sweat.
At this moment, they just wanted to report the situation quickly, take a bath, and get a good night’s sleep.
“Adventurers, what is this?” Harvey, the tavern owner, came out after receiving notice.
Seeing them in disarray, he subconsciously frowned, then quickly forced a smile.
“Boss, let’s talk inside,” someone suggested.
The tavern was deathly quiet now, and almost everyone in the hall was watching them.
But it was obviously inappropriate to recount what just happened in public—it would cause unnecessary commotion.
So the group and Harvey returned to a private room.
Once they left the hall, low murmurs began to spread through the tavern.
“So scary…”
“They look like homicidal maniacs.”
“Shh! Keep your voice down—they might still hear us.”
“…”
Inside the private room.
Levin and the others had recounted the entire incident to Harvey.
“Gasp, are you saying a ghoul is wandering near the village?” Harvey drew a sharp breath.
With most monsters, ordinary people—even if not as professional as adventurers—could handle them at the cost of some casualties or failing to eliminate the creature.
But a ghoul was beyond the capacity of ordinary humans to manage.
Even if the village had a militia, they couldn’t stand against a creature several times stronger than themselves.
The only relief was that if, as these adventurers said, there was just one ghoul, the situation might not be so dire.
After all, solitary monsters seldom attack populated areas.
“Yes,” they confirmed.
“C–can you deal with that monster?” Harvey asked tentatively.
Although the chance of a ghoul attacking was low, having such a fiend lurking near the village made sleep difficult.
“Do we look like we can kill a ghoul?” Levin replied with a bitter smile, speaking honestly.
It wasn’t something to be ashamed of.
Harvey glanced over the group.
As a member of the Golden Beak Trading Company’s management, he had seen many things.
He could tell that these “ferocious warriors” were actually in rough shape.
If they had completed a mission and returned normally, they would have had time to clean their gear and wouldn’t be dripping with blood and meat as they hurried back.
“Indeed, I was being presumptuous.” Harvey sighed, finding his own thoughts laughable—no matter how well-trained low-level adventurers might seem, they couldn’t possibly contend with a monster of a ghoul’s caliber.
“I’ll hold a meeting tomorrow with the other managers, and if the situation is verified, we’ll most likely reissue a request to the Adventurer’s Guild specifically targeting this ghoul.”
“And thank you all for the information. As for the Water Wraith extermination mission, once I send someone to verify the scene tomorrow, I’ll issue you a statement of clarification.”
Harvey stood up.
“You’ve had a hard night. Why don’t you wash up and rest here at our tavern tonight?”
Harvey’s face was faintly dark; being confined in the same closed-off private room as the group, he was struggling—he was nearly losing consciousness from the stench.
Using the excuse of hospitality, he quickly strode toward the door.
He opened it before the others could even reply.
And walked out first.
“There’s a bath at the back. I’ll have the staff prepare hot water for your bath.”
Gauss and the others looked at each other.
But it was hard to refuse such kindness, and now that they were safe, they themselves couldn’t bear the sticky, fishy stench on their bodies anymore.
After a brief hesitation, they rose and followed Harvey.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning.
The walls built of gray-brown cut stones stood quietly; the oil lamp hanging on the wall had already burned out.
The low oak beams were blackened by smoke, and sunlight streamed through the wooden slats of a narrow window, scattering light speckles on the floor.
Gauss opened his eyes on the soft bed and lay there quietly for a while.
Only when he was fully awake did he sit up and stretch lazily.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve slept so well.”
He pressed down on the coarse wool blanket beneath him.
Although the worn edges had exposed some yellowed cotton stuffing, it was still far more comfortable than the linen mattress Gauss usually slept on.
“It’s easy to go from frugal to luxurious.”
He got up and began dressing and equipping himself.
While putting on his clothes and leather armor, he once again felt how much more agile his movements had become.
Even tying knots behind his back no longer felt awkward or difficult.
At that moment, Gauss clearly realized that the boost from agility stat points impacted every aspect of life—not just the few minutes of combat.
Perhaps even his daily weapons training efficiency would improve as a result.
He stepped out of the tavern.
The others were waking up one by one.
After exchanging greetings in the hall, the tavern staff quickly served breakfast.
“I wonder how much we’ll get for the mission reward this time?”
“Yeah, we didn’t even collect all the Water Wraith loot yesterday—just managed to take part of it.”
“Robbed by a ghoul, my first time ever.”
As they ate, they talked about their experience from the previous night.
After a good night’s sleep, much of their anxiety had dissipated.
At this point, they were even feeling regretful over the lost mission loot.
“As long as Harvey provides us with a supplemental statement stamped by the Trading Company, we should still be able to get the full reward,” Levin reassured.
“The only loss would be the Water Wraith materials.”
“And the extra reward they promised us earlier—who knows if we’ll still get it.” Daphne sighed.
She had been saving to buy a magic stone for her wand core.
Losing that income for no reason was painful.